Residents protest proposed establishment of Tehsil in Bannu

BANNU: The residents of Ghoriwala on Thursday staged a protest and blocked the traffic at the main chowk against the proposed establishment of Merakhel as a tehsil in Bannu district.

The local leaders of all the political parties and elders of Ghoriwala rejected the establishment of Merakhel tehsil, saying that a tribe was being divided on the pretext of administrative division.

After the protest, a jirga of elders and local political leaders was held at Ghoriwala Bazaar. The participants vowed that they would not allow anyone to harm their interest, establish tehsil in a small village and ignore the historic Ghoriwala city.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (Ulema Wing) central vice-president Maulana Syed Nasim Ali Shah, Taimur Baz Khan of the ANP, former MPA Irfan Durrani of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam, Ghoriwala tribes head Pir Matiullah and others attended the jirga.

The participants alleged that a lawmaker was behind this conspiracy to declare Merakhel a tehsil, which will never be allowed. They threatened that all the tribes of Ghoriwala city would be on the roads if Merakhel was declared a tehsil.